Random Horizontal Lines on Multiple Distros

rworkman · 11-01-2007, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubatodd

Roll Tide Robbie!!!!! Next time there is an Alabama LUG meeting I should attend. Let me know.

The next meeting is an "informal" one - it will be at the TechMixer held on November 6th at Innovation Depot. See http://techmixer.org/ for details and such...

Unless something changes, I'll be there (even though it will require me to miss my favorite TV show) :/

tubatodd · 11-17-2007, 08:05 AM

I've been REALLY busy lately, so I haven't had a chance to install Slack 12. Yesterday I tried the latest release candidate (RC7) of Slax on my laptop. Low and behold, the problem appeared. I thought Slackware (or at least Slax) was immune. Any ideas what this problem might be??

To recap, I've experienced these lines in Ubuntu 7.10, Fedora 8 and Slax 6.0 RC7. I'm still trying to figure out what they all have in common.

H_TeXMeX_H · 11-17-2007, 09:05 AM

Well, let's take this logically. It's obviously a video problem, so it could either be the video driver, xorg, or the card itself. I doubt it's the monitor, but I'm not sure it can be excluded.

I'm betting the driver is the problem. I too have experienced this before (with an ATI card, curse them !), and it was the driver.

tubatodd · 11-19-2007, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H

Well, let's take this logically. It's obviously a video problem, so it could either be the video driver, xorg, or the card itself. I doubt it's the monitor, but I'm not sure it can be excluded.

I'm betting the driver is the problem. I too have experienced this before (with an ATI card, curse them !), and it was the driver.

Not that I'm a Vulcan or anything (although there is a BIG statue of Vulcan here in Birmingham), but looking at it logically is the only way to go. I'm totally in agreement with you. I think it is pretty safe to rule out hardware because it is NEVER a problem with Ubuntu 7.04, Fedora 7, Slack 11, Slax 5.1.8, etc.

I REALLY want to believe it is the driver itself, BUT I've had the same thing happen using the i810 driver as well as the "intel" driver. I believe I heard that a new "intel" driver just came out. Perhaps that would fix it.

H_TeXMeX_H · 11-20-2007, 02:16 AM

If it's not the driver or the card, then it most likely is xorg. Maybe try a newer or earlier or patched version.

tubatodd · 11-20-2007, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H

If it's not the driver or the card, then it most likely is xorg. Maybe try a newer or earlier or patched version.

The Slax 6 RC7 CD I tried was using the new xorg-server 1.4. It too was having the problem. If you were to ask me what my gut feeling is...I would say it has to do with xrandr. I get COMPLETELY different detection settings between Ubuntu 7.04 and 7.10. That may be WAY off base, but it was an observation. Here is my xrandr from Ubuntu 7.04...

Code:

todd@todd-laptop:~$ xrandr
 SZ:    Pixels          Physical       Refresh
*0   1680 x 1050   ( 474mm x 301mm )  *60  
 1   1600 x 1200   ( 474mm x 301mm )   60  
 2   1400 x 1050   ( 474mm x 301mm )   60  
 3   1280 x 1024   ( 474mm x 301mm )   75  
 4   1440 x 900    ( 474mm x 301mm )   75   60  
 5   1280 x 960    ( 474mm x 301mm )   60  
 6   1360 x 765    ( 474mm x 301mm )   60  
 7   1152 x 864    ( 474mm x 301mm )   75  
 8   1024 x 768    ( 474mm x 301mm )   75   70   60  
 9    832 x 624    ( 474mm x 301mm )   75  
 10   800 x 600    ( 474mm x 301mm )   72   75   60   56  
 11   640 x 480    ( 474mm x 301mm )   75   73   67   60  
 12   720 x 400    ( 474mm x 301mm )   70  
 13  1680 x 1680   ( 474mm x 301mm )   60  
Current rotation - normal
Current reflection - none
Rotations possible - normal left inverted right 
Reflections possible - none
todd@todd-laptop:~$

The output I get from 7.10 shows information for the LCD built into the laptop and a TV outsetting. The information above looks correct. When the lid of my laptop is closed, the built-in LCD should be disabled and the external monitor should be the primary display. Something tells me the other stuff that I'm getting with the newer xrandr 1.2 is causing this problem.

H_TeXMeX_H · 11-20-2007, 07:42 AM

Did you try using these specs for distros in which it doesn't work properly ?

Quote:

*0 1680 x 1050 ( 474mm x 301mm ) *60

tubatodd · 11-20-2007, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H

Did you try using these specs for distros in which it doesn't work properly ?

Yes the other distros were all at 1680x1050. I can't swear that they were at 60Hz, but I'm pretty certain they were.

H_TeXMeX_H · 11-20-2007, 12:39 PM

And have you tried setting the display size ? (it's probably irrelevant, but who knows)

I have no other ideas other than, make sure the card is not overheating and the fan is free of dust.

tubatodd · 11-20-2007, 07:45 PM

You may be on to something....

My gut feeling is that this is a new problem because of how xrandr is newly implemented. on Fedora 7 and Ubuntu 7.04 I get the following results...

Code:

todd@todd-laptop:~$ xrandr
 SZ:    Pixels          Physical       Refresh
*0   1680 x 1050   ( 474mm x 301mm )  *60  
 1   1600 x 1200   ( 474mm x 301mm )   60  
 2   1400 x 1050   ( 474mm x 301mm )   60  
 3   1280 x 1024   ( 474mm x 301mm )   75  
 4   1440 x 900    ( 474mm x 301mm )   75   60  
 5   1280 x 960    ( 474mm x 301mm )   60  
 6   1360 x 765    ( 474mm x 301mm )   60  
 7   1152 x 864    ( 474mm x 301mm )   75  
 8   1024 x 768    ( 474mm x 301mm )   75   70   60  
 9    832 x 624    ( 474mm x 301mm )   75  
 10   800 x 600    ( 474mm x 301mm )   72   75   60   56  
 11   640 x 480    ( 474mm x 301mm )   75   73   67   60  
 12   720 x 400    ( 474mm x 301mm )   70  
 13  1680 x 1680   ( 474mm x 301mm )   60  
Current rotation - normal
Current reflection - none
Rotations possible - normal left inverted right 
Reflections possible - none
todd@todd-laptop:~$

In Fedora 8 and Ubuntu 7.10 I get these results...

Code:

See "man sudo_root" for details.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1680 x 1050, maximum 1680 x 1680
VGA connected 1680x1050+0+0 (normal left inverted right) 474mm x 296mm
   1680x1050      60.0*+
   1400x1050      60.0  
   1440x900       59.9  
   1280x960       59.9  
   1360x765       59.8  
   1152x864       75.0     74.8  
   1024x768       75.1     70.1     60.0  
   832x624        74.6  
   800x600        72.2     75.0     60.3     56.2  
   640x480        75.0     72.8     66.7     60.0  
   720x400        70.1  
LVDS connected 1280x800+0+0 (normal left inverted right) 303mm x 190mm
   1280x800       60.0*+   60.0  
   1280x768       60.0  
   1024x768       60.0  
   800x600        60.3  
   640x480        59.9  
TV disconnected (normal left inverted right)
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

Notice the 474mm x 301mm in the old dimensions and 474mm x 296mm in the old. Correct me if I'm wrong. but a 5mm difference is a big deal.

H_TeXMeX_H · 11-21-2007, 04:12 AM

Ok, so try adding a Display Size to the monitor section:

Code:

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Monitor Vendor"
    ModelName      "Monitor Model"
    DisplaySize     474  301
    HorizSync       29.000 - 65.000
    VertRefresh     60.000
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Code:

DisplaySize  width height
              This optional entry gives the width and height, in  millimetres,
              of  the  picture  area  of the monitor. If given this is used to
              calculate the horizontal and vertical pitch (DPI) of the screen.

from: 'man xorg.conf'

tubatodd · 11-21-2007, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H

Ok, so try adding a Display Size to the monitor section:

Code:

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Monitor Vendor"
    ModelName      "Monitor Model"
    DisplaySize     474  301
    HorizSync       29.000 - 65.000
    VertRefresh     60.000
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Code:

DisplaySize  width height
              This optional entry gives the width and height, in  millimetres,
              of  the  picture  area  of the monitor. If given this is used to
              calculate the horizontal and vertical pitch (DPI) of the screen.

from: 'man xorg.conf'

I'm at work and thus, can not test this out. The only thing that makes me think this will NOT fix the problem is that I booted into Ubuntu 7.10 and the screen looked fine even though it had the "474x296" dimensions. I'm thinking that it is dumb luck that it worked at those dimensions. I mean...come on. How can the 2 versions be off by 5mm (about 1/4") and that not be a problem? So, I can't wait to try this out.

Thanks for you help. I'll let you know if that fixes it.

tubatodd · 11-21-2007, 05:58 PM

I added the DisplaySize entry and it had no effect. xrandr had the same exact output of 474x301. I tried setting through

Code:

xrandr --fbmm 474x301

but it had no effect. I feel like I'm on the right track, but I'm stuck.

H_TeXMeX_H · 11-22-2007, 05:03 AM

Can you post your '/var/log/Xorg.0.log' ? There may be more clues in there. Maybe compare them for when it works and when it doesn't.

tubatodd · 11-22-2007, 08:34 PM

Apparently my xorg.0.log file is too long for me to post to this forum. So, here is a link to my post in the Ubuntu forum where I posted this file.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=585722